I currently am running WHS 2011 which does a lot of stuff for me including running Utorrent and providing me with remote access to my media. I am moving from a hardware based to a software based home automation system and would like to run it on XP in a VM. Now, I have never installed or played with Hyper-V at all. I have used VMWare in the past but that's the end of it. The motherboard has two nics, one of which is currently in use and would theoretically be used by Server 2008 R2. I would then give the second to WHS. So here are my questions:
1. I understand that there can be issues with installing XP in Hyper-V because you might not be able to use the mouse for some reason. WTF? I guess this is solved by installing a copy with SP3 but I don't have one of those. I suppose I could slip SP3 in (haven't done that kind of malarkey in years) or pirate a copy (might be modified in some way which might not work with my legitimate key) but that seems like a lot of work to go through. Any insights here?
2. The XP VM will need to have control over the USB ports and the serial port on my motherboard, a SM X8SILF. Is this possible in Hyper-V?
3. I would like the WHS 2011 VM to continue to provide DYNDNS and run UTorrent. Will this be possible?
4. I'm using FlexRAID with WHS 2011. WIll I still run this within WHS or would I run it on the host OS and pass the .... Volume? to WHS? Not even sure of the latter is possible.
5. Will 8 GB be enough memory? I could double that quite easily but won't if it's unnecessary.
6. I know squat about where to begin with Hyper-V. Is there anything I would need to install in Server 2008 R2 to get it up and running or is it just sitting there waiting for me to open it up? Is there a "so you know squat about Hyper-V" guide out there or something? Is it so self explanatory that I wouldn't need one? I'm not completely in the dark but my motivation for dickering with computers has waned in the past 12 months or so and am not up for a large learning curve at the moment.
Thanks for any and all input guys. Even if it is something like "Sound like too much trouble to me. Just build a separate box to your home automation".
1. I understand that there can be issues with installing XP in Hyper-V because you might not be able to use the mouse for some reason. WTF? I guess this is solved by installing a copy with SP3 but I don't have one of those. I suppose I could slip SP3 in (haven't done that kind of malarkey in years) or pirate a copy (might be modified in some way which might not work with my legitimate key) but that seems like a lot of work to go through. Any insights here?
2. The XP VM will need to have control over the USB ports and the serial port on my motherboard, a SM X8SILF. Is this possible in Hyper-V?
3. I would like the WHS 2011 VM to continue to provide DYNDNS and run UTorrent. Will this be possible?
4. I'm using FlexRAID with WHS 2011. WIll I still run this within WHS or would I run it on the host OS and pass the .... Volume? to WHS? Not even sure of the latter is possible.
5. Will 8 GB be enough memory? I could double that quite easily but won't if it's unnecessary.
6. I know squat about where to begin with Hyper-V. Is there anything I would need to install in Server 2008 R2 to get it up and running or is it just sitting there waiting for me to open it up? Is there a "so you know squat about Hyper-V" guide out there or something? Is it so self explanatory that I wouldn't need one? I'm not completely in the dark but my motivation for dickering with computers has waned in the past 12 months or so and am not up for a large learning curve at the moment.
Thanks for any and all input guys. Even if it is something like "Sound like too much trouble to me. Just build a separate box to your home automation".
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